I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in a general sense to an aircraft engine assembly, particularly of the type intended to be mounted laterally on a rear part of the aircraft.
II. Description of Related Art
When such a position is chosen one of the difficulties in designing the mounting pylon lies in transmitting the moment exerted in the lengthways direction where the engine assembly is attached to the aircraft's fuselage. This moment results, indeed, from a high load applied vertically to the centre of gravity of the engine assembly, which is positioned laterally offset from the fuselage on to which this unit is attached.
Generally, the fasteners interposed between the rigid structure of the mounting pylon and the structure of the aircraft are designed such that this bending moment is transmitted with two separate attachments, each transmitting radial loads, and spaced relative to one another in the tangential direction of the fuselage, also comparable to the direction of the thickness of the mounting pylon. However, given the extremely high intensity of this bending moment which is exerted in the lengthways direction, it is necessary to over-dimension the attachments concerned, and/or to position them with a large distance between them. Whatever approach is adopted, it necessarily results in a high degree of encumbrance of the pylon, in the direction of its thickness, which generates non-negligible aerodynamic disturbance, affecting the overall efficiency of aircraft fitted with this type of engine assembly. Moreover, this efficiency is also penalised by the surplus mass arising from the over-dimensioning of the rigid structure of the pylon and/or of the attachments connecting the latter to the structure of the aircraft.